Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1583 - A.3.3 The Database Description packet

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### A.3.3 The Database Description packet

Database Description packets are OSPF packet type 2. These packets are exchanged when an adjacency is being initialized. They describe the contents of the topological database. Multiple packets may be used to describe the database. For this purpose a poll-response procedure is used. One of the routers is designated to be master, the other a slave. The master sends Database Description packets (polls) which are acknowledged by Database Description packets sent by the slave (responses). The responses are linked to the polls via the packets' DD sequence numbers.

            0                   1                   2                   3
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |   Version #   |       2       |         Packet length         |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                          Router ID                            |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                           Area ID                             |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |           Checksum            |             AuType            |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                       Authentication                          |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                       Authentication                          |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |       0       |       0       |    Options    |0|0|0|0|0|I|M|MS
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                     DD sequence number                        |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                                                               |
           +-                                                             -+
           |                             A                                 |
           +-                 Link State Advertisement                    -+
           |                           Header                              |
           +-                                                             -+
           |                                                               |
           +-                                                             -+
           |                                                               |
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
           |                              ...                              |

The format of the Database Description packet is very similar to both the Link State Request and Link State Acknowledgment packets. The main part of all three is a list of items, each item describing a piece of the topological database. The sending of Database Description Packets is documented in Section 10.8. The reception of Database Description packets is documented in Section 10.6.

0

  These fields are reserved. They must be 0.

Options

  The optional capabilities supported by the router, as documented in Section A.2.

I-bit

  The Init bit. When set to 1, this packet is the first in the sequence of Database Description Packets.

M-bit

  The More bit. When set to 1, it indicates that more Database Description Packets are to follow.

MS-bit

  The Master/Slave bit. When set to 1, it indicates that the router is the master during the Database Exchange process. Otherwise, the router is the slave.

DD sequence number

  Used to sequence the collection of Database Description Packets. The initial value (indicated by the Init bit being set) should be unique. The DD sequence number then increments until the complete database description has been sent.

The rest of the packet consists of a (possibly partial) list of the topological database's pieces. Each link state advertisement in the database is described by its link state advertisement header. The link state advertisement header is documented in Section A.4.1. It contains all the information required to uniquely identify both the advertisement and the advertisement's current instance.

Next: A.3.4 The Link State Request packet

Connected: An Internet Encyclopedia
RFC 1583 - A.3.3 The Database Description packet